Cutting tools such as, for example, a metal cutting tool for removing material from a work piece are generally known. Typically, a cutting tool includes a tool holder and a clamping arrangement for releasably securing an insert to the tool holder. Various forms of such clamping arrangements have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,309 to Jones et al. discloses a cutting insert and clamping arrangement therefore wherein a clamping member includes a rounded nose adapted for engagement with a groove formed in the cutting insert. U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,799 to McCreery et al. discloses a tool holder that includes a clamp member for clamping an insert to a tool holder shank.
In cutting tool turning operations, chips produced by the insert can interfere with cutting operations. In the '799 patent to McCreery et al., a portion of the clamp member facing the cutting edge is beveled off so as to serve as a chip breaker or chip deflecting member and facilitate getting the chips away from the cutting region. This results in the chip breaking face of the clamp member as well as the immediate area surrounding the clamp and cutting edge being subjected to severe wear and abrasion. In the '799 patent to McCreery et al., the clamp member can be provided with a hardening and/or friction reducing treatment. Specifically, this can be accomplished by forming the clamp member of an air hardening steel, applying a relatively thin coat of titanium carbide to the chip breaking surface using a vapor deposition process (e.g., physical vapor deposition (PVD)) or by applying a boradizing treatment to the chip breaking surface of the clamp member. However, it has been determined that such hardening and/or friction reducing treatments fail to provide adequate wear and abrasion resistance.
The present invention has been developed in view of the foregoing.